Pajamas
by Brentinator
Summary: Alternatively, 5 times Peter wore Iron Man pajamas, and one time he no longer needed them.
1. Chapter 1

It had been a slow day for May and Ben Parker. They were spending a night in after they got off work, and it was rather nice not to take place in the hassle of driving through New York on a Friday night in the rain.

They were sitting on the couch, watching Titanic, when Ben had to excuse himself to take a phone call.

"Hello, this is Benjamin Parker."

"This is Child Protective Services. Is your brother Richard Parker?" The female voice on the other end asked, void of emotions, and while Ben was used to getting strange phone calls regarding his brother, this one just seemed different.

"Yes, he is."

"Well, I regret to inform you, but he perished with his wife a few hours ago in a plane crash."

Ben was shell shocked, but he had to know about his nephew and what was gonna happen to him.

"What's gonna happen to my nephew?"

"Peter Parker. Well, you have a choice. We can put him in yours and your wife's custody, or we can put him in the foster system. We have him here now. This is why you were called."

Ben didn't even hesitate, and May was probably gonna kill him, but he responded.

"We'll come get him now."

He and the woman talked for a few more moments, before Ben grabbed the umbrella, his shoes and car keys.

"May, we need to go."

"Is everything okay?"

"Richard and Mary were killed in a plane crash." Ben swallowed. "Child Protective Services have Peter, and we need to go get him."

That's all it took for May to grab her shoes before following her husband to the car.

••••••••••••••

After Ben and May worked with CPS on some paperwork so guardianship was given to them, they walked into the small room where their nephew was, and it broke both of their hearts.

The seven year old was dangling his legs off the bench, a steady stream of tears going down his cheeks, as he held the small stuffed bear that CPS had given him when they got him from Mary and Richard's house, and a small duffle bag beside him of his favorite toys and some clothes.

May knelt down in front of her nephew, gently putting a hand on his knee to get his attention, and as soon as she did, he leapt into her arms, sobbing onto her shoulder.

"I've got you, baby. It's gonna be okay." She soothed, standing up so she could carry him to the car, while Ben grabbed Peter's stuff off the bench.

When he looked in the bag, he saw that one of the few toys in the bag was a Iron Man action figure, making him smile.

Peter had always been obsessed with Tony Stark, since the time he was born, and when he had announced that he was a superhero, that only made Peter's obsession grow, and soon he looked up to Tony Stark like he was a god.

So, Ben made a decision that they would stop at Wal-Mart on the way home. After all, they needed milk, so he figured he would grab a little something for Peter as well.

•••••••••••

When they got back to the apartment, May put the milk up and Ben took Peter upstairs to the room he normally stayed in when he visited, but would now be his room permanently.

"So we can decorate in a few days, but all I could find were some old sheets. Is that okay, Pete?" Ben asked, making up the bed for him.

Peter nodded, having calmed down a bit, but still very emotional as Ben quickly made up the bed before pulling out the Wal-Mart bag.

"I got you something." He told him as his nephew sat beside him, and Ben pulled out the Iron Man pajamas, making Peter's face light up. "Iron Man is really strong, right?"

"Yeah! He can lift big stuff, and he can fly, and he's smart, like me!"

"Yep." Ben smiled, ruffling his nephew's hair. "And now, you can put these on, and when you do, you can be just like Iron Man."

Peter grinned, wrapping his arms around Ben's waist, thanking him over and over again before going to put the pajamas on, but Ben stopped him, still smiling.

"You need some food and a bath first, kiddo."

When May tucked him into bed that night, she smiled when she saw him curled up in the pajamas and tear stains no longer on his cheeks.

He was gonna be just fine.


	2. Chapter 2

May and Ben had gotten up early that morning to get to work on breakfast and making sure that one of them was gonna drive Peter to school before they both went to work.

This was Peter's first day of school with May and Ben as his guardians, so they wanted to make sure everything went smoothly.

After breakfast had been made, May went to go wake up her nephew, but was beaten to it by him grinning ear to ear with his backpack over his shoulder, dressed to go as he thumped down the stairs.

"Hey, kiddo. You ready for breakfast?"

Peter nodded, sitting at the table where he could clearly see the TV playing the news.

"The joint venture between Stark Industries and The Federal Government, the department of damage control, will oversee the collection and storage of alien and other exotic materials. Experts estimate over fifteen hundred tons of exotic materials are scattered throughout the tri-state area. We will be updating on the hour."

May turned to look at Peter, who's eyes were lit up when he looked at the screen, not even sure if he fully grasped what was going on, and instead, was just excited to hear about Tony Stark.

"Hey, kiddo. We gotta head out if we're gonna get there on time." Ben told him, standing up and grabbing his jacket. "Do you have everything?"

Peter nodded as he put on his shoes, before the two went to the car, while May started to clean up breakfast.

••••••••••••

Peter was really excited to be in third grade, and to learn everything that was in store for him, but shortly before they arrived, the stomach ache that had been a dull pain since last night was now becoming more consistent, and so, he decided to tell his uncle.

"Uncle Ben? My stomach is starting to hurt."

"How bad?" Ben asked, glancing at him through the interior rear view mirror.

"It's like a small pain in the middle."

"It's probably just nerves, kiddo." Ben told him as he parked the car, before going around to help him out. "I'll see you later. Have a good day."

Peter grabbed his backpack and climbed out, before going into the building, but Ben knew what he was talking about. He was just nervous about school.

•••••••••••••••

At about eleven thirty that day, May was getting ready to take her lunch break when she was called into the hall by her boss's assistant with the phone.

"Hello? This is May Parker."

"Yes, I'm Kimberly Clark, Peter's third grade teacher."

"Is everything okay?" She asked, becoming more invested in a conversation that she thought would've been her husband asking about groceries.

"I'm afraid not, Mrs. Parker. Peter threw up during class on his stuff. He's in the nurse's office and needs to be picked up immediately."

"Okay. I'll be there soon." She said before hanging up, then going to her boss's assistant , who asked if everything was okay when she saw her distraught face. "No, my nephew is sick and I need to go pick him up. Can you tell Mr. Brown if he asks where I am?"

"Absolutely, Mrs. Parker. Would you like me to ask if he can call you?"

"That'd be great. Thank you." May said as she grabbed her jacket off the hook , before heading out into the sunshine.

•••••••••••••

When May got to the nurse's office, she saw Peter, who was visibly crying, with a arm wrapped around his stomach, and walked up to him, cupping his cheek.

"Hey, baby. Your teacher told me what happened. Can you tell me what feels bad?"

"M-my stomach..." He stopped to sniffle before putting his hand softly on where it hurt. "T-the pain moved, a-and got worse... I-I don't think I was n-nervous about school."

"Yeah, I don't think you were either. Let's go, okay?" She asked, and he nodded, before she picked him up and he buried his head into her shoulder while she talked to his principal. "I'll pay for any damages it caused."

His principal, Michael Murry, just shook his head and shot a pitiful look at the small boy in her arms. "Just let us know when he's feeling better."

She nodded, before getting him into the car, and making the short drive to the emergency room, praying that this wasn't appendicitis, like she had been thinking.

•••••••••••••••

May sat down beside Peter, who was sitting in one of the chairs, and started signing paperwork and when Ben came in, clearly frazzled by the phone call May had made, he sat down beside Peter, who whimpered.

"Hey, buddy. How are you feeling?"

"It hurts..." He whimpered again, getting closer to him, just as May stood up to hand the receptionist the papers, and quickly returning to where her nephew and husband were.

A few minutes later, Peter's name was called, and the three Parkers went in, the youngest being carried by his aunt, following the nurse to a examination room.

"Hello, Peter. I'm Nurse Amy. I've been told you're not feeling well. Can you tell me what's going on?" She asked gently, kneeling in front of the small boy so they were eye level.

"M-my stomach's been hurting since l-last night, but it didn't g-get bad till I was dropped off at school. B-but I was okay till I was d-doing math, and t-threw up on my papers. Then Ms. Clark took m-me to the nurse, and s-she said I h-had a fever and then the pain m-moved to here." He finished, pointing to his lower right side.

"Okay. I'm gonna take your temperature, and then I'll bring Doctor Pruitt in here." She smiled, getting the thermometer off the wall. "Hold this under your tongue, Peter."

Peter did as he was told, and when the thermometer beeped, she smiled at him sympathetically, before writing something on her chart and leaving the room.

"It smells weird in here." Peter remarked, taking a deep breath of the chemically smelling room, before wrinkling his nose up in disgust. "Why does it smell like that?"

"It's cleaner, Pete. It's what makes the room nice and sanitary so no one gets sick." May smiled, ruffling his hair when she heard his curiosity get the better of him.

"Oh. Like the stuff you use to clean the toilet."

"Yep." She chuckled, pulling him closer just as the nurse came back with who she assumed was Doctor Pruitt behind her.

"Alright, Peter. I'm gonna ask you a few questions, and then I'm gonna do some tests, alright?"

Peter nodded, grabbing onto May tightly, scared of anything that was coming his way.

••••••••••••••

Two hours later, Peter was being prepped for surgery, and panicking while it was happening.

"Hey, Pete." Ben said softly, getting his nephew's attention. "I brought you something." He said, pulling out a Iron Man bathrobe, making Peter's face light up like it had that morning when they were watching the news over breakfast. "I know you can't wear your Iron Man PJ's, but you can wear this over your hospital gown. Does that sound like a good idea?"

Peter nodded, and started to sit up so Ben could put the robe on him, but he was stopped.

"After surgery, okay?"

Peter huffed, but nodded and soon enough, he was falling asleep while being whisked to the operating room.

Two hours later, and Peter was holding his Iron Man action figure in his hand, and cuddled up in his robe while snoring softly.


	3. Chapter 3

Ben was sitting on the couch and reading a newspaper, enjoying his call day from the hospital, when he glanced at the clock in concern.

Right about now, Peter would've grabbed a couple of cookies out of the jar, and raced onto the couch to watch some Scooby Doo or Looney Tunes, but the nine year old was nowhere to be seen.

He waited another twenty minutes, just in case he was running late or the bus was late or something, and he was about to call the NYPD when the door creaked open.

Ben turned around, and couldn't even try and mask his shock when Peter came home littered with cuts and bruises, a nasty gash on his leg, soaking wet with mud and tears streaming down his face.

He immediately got up and went straight over to him, heart pounding as he gently cupped his cheek with his hand. Why did this have to happen to his boy, he wondered as he could feel him getting chocked up just by looking at him.

"What happened, Pete?" He asked quietly, trying to smooth out his fussed up hair, and that's when Peter erupted into sobs, breaking his heart.

"T-they were bullying Ned, a-and I told them to stop, s-so they started hitting me..."

"Is Ned okay?" Ben asked, wiping his nephew's eyes with his thumb, and when Peter nodded, he asked. "Do you know their names?"

"N-no."

"Okay, kiddo. Let's get you cleaned up." He said, scooping him into his arms, and for the first time, actually having trouble carrying him.

•••••••••••••••

A hour later, and Peter was on the couch with a bandage on his knee, bandaids on the small cuts and a ice pack on his head, changing out of his school clothes and now wearing his Iron Man pajamas, while Ben was kneeling on the ground to reach the DVD player, turning on A New Hope.

Once he got it turned on, he got on the couch with his nephew, who laid his head on the man's leg, eyes already drooping.

By the time Luke had met R2-D2, Peter was fast asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

May smiled as she got back from work. Peter was doing homework at the table, and seemingly understanding it with zero problems, and Ben was grabbing his jacket and shoes.

"Hey, baby." He smiled, kissing her cheek as he grabbed his wallet. "I know you just got back, but I'm gonna get groceries for dinner, okay?"

Peter perked up from his homework and ask with excitement in his voice.

"Can I come?"

Ben and May shot each other a glance, before Ben nodded, making his eyes light up and he shouted "yes!" before running off to get his shoes and jacket.

May gently adjusted his jacket and kissed him before smiling. "I'll see you later."

"Bye." He smiled back, before ushering Peter outside in the cold October air, closing the door behind him.

If only it had stayed that pure.

••••••••••••••••••

Peter was antsy after doing homework for three hours (seriously, who allowed that much homework to be assigned?) and knowing he had at least a hour left of equations, he was happy when May let him out of the house with his homework unfinished.

He was balancing on the curb, his arms outstretched so he could keep his balance, before he felt a arm pull him close and a voice sternly tell him.

"Stay close, Pete."

Peter nodded, and walked on the sidewalk beside his uncle, and that's when he felt the sense that something was gonna happen, and that it was bad...

That's when the shots started firing.

It was blur for Peter after that. He was shoved to the ground by presumably Ben, and there were several shouts and screams, plus the shots were still going.

When he had the courage to look up, he had to swallow tightly as he crawled toward Ben, who was bleeding heavily.

He pressed his hands on the wounds, and screamed loudly, praying that someone was coming, or getting help, or something.

"Help! Someone help, please!"

He gasped quietly in shock when he felt a slight touch on his hand, and looked down to see Ben looking at him, almost with a smile gracing his face, only leading him to press down harder.

"Pete, it's okay. I love you. Tell your aunt I love her."

"You tell her. You're gonna be fine, just stay awake."

"I love you."

"N-no...you're gonna tell her. You're gonna be fine." He whimpered as his eyes started to get wet and tear filled. "D-don't go...please..."

"Be the good person I know you are."

"Someone help! Please!" He screamed, before finally letting himself cry, as he whispered. " Don't go...please don't go...we need you..."

••••••••••••••••••

May rushed into the hospital, her purse on her shoulder and her coat wrapped around her, in too much shock to fully process what had happened and went up to the receptionist desk.

"I'm looking for Peter Parker."

"You must be May." The receptionist smiled sympathetically. "Your nephew is in room 314. The police told me they wanted to speak to you before you go see him though. They are waiting for you outside of his room."

"Thank you." May insisted, going into the elevator and straight to Peter's room, seeing that there were indeed two female officers outside of the room.

She pulled out her wallet, grabbing her ID, and showing it to the cops, before speaking. "You wanted to speak to me?"

"Yes. I'm Officer Davidson, and this is my partner, Officer Allred. We're here to speak to you about the shooting that occurred earlier."

"I already know about my husband." She insisted, holding back tears as she asked. "Was Peter injured?"

"No, Mr. Parker blocked him from the shots. He was pretty shaken up, though." Officer Allred explained. "You do need to know, however, that the next few days, since Peter was a eye witness, he will be questioned, asked for a composite sketch, and may even have to testify in court when we find the shooter."

"I understand." May nodded, looking down at the floor for a second, before looking back up at the two officers. "Can I see him now?"

"Yes. We'll contact you tomorrow." Officer Davidson insisted. "Good night, Mrs. Parker."

•••••••••••••

When May and Peter came home two hours later, both of them had to do everything they could to keep from breaking into tears, and May was already planning on sleeping on the couch for the next few days...or weeks.

Peter went up to his room, running a hand through his hair that ended up wiping his eyes, to change into something a bit more comfortable, and looked at the state of his room.

It was the same as he left it. Laundry in the floor, unfinished math homework on his desk, even Ready Player One was still laying open on his bed to the page he was at that afternoon.

However, there was a box on his bed, which made him curious as he opened it, seeing the small note that was written on the tag.

'Happy birthday, Pete. -Ben'

He pulled the tissue paper out of the bag, and saw a large grey t-shirt, with a large drawing of Iron Man on it, and that's when he fully burst into tears, clutching it tightly in his fisted hand.


	5. Chapter 5

"Hey, kiddo." May grinned and looked up from her laptop, seeing her nephew deposit his backpack on the floor, but quickly noticed his upset demeanor as he whispered, like if he spoke higher he was gonna cry.

"Hey, May."

She shut her laptop and went over to him, gently putting a hand on his shoulder, tilting his teary eyes where she could see them and running her hand through his hair.

"What's wrong?" She asked quietly, in case this was a sensory issue and speaking loudly could hurt him more.

"H-he started saying things about Ned...and I tried to stop him, I did, please don't be mad." Peter whimpered, putting his face against her shoulder and started to sob, his body shaking.

May gently rocked him while running her fingers against his scalp gently, letting a long and whispered "shhh" escape her lips.

Once Peter's sobs turned into sniffles, she tilted his face back toward hers gently while insisting.

"Now tell me what happened."

"Ned and I were leaving school, and this guy started saying stuff about Ben, so Ned tried to stick up for me, and he said something about Ned's sister, and I just...I snapped!" Peter insisted, breaking down again as he whispered. "I didn't wanna hurt him, I just didn't want Ned to be more upset..."

May sighed, gently running her fingers against his scalp again.

"So you punched him cause he was saying stuff about Ned?"

"I-I punched him and he hit his head really hard...I think he was bleeding...I'm so so sorry..."

"What's the kid's name? I'll explain what happened to the parents." She insisted, and while she had a small feeling he wouldn't give up his name, she was actually surprised when he told her his name was Eugene Thompson.

"Thank you for telling me. Go get changed into something more comfortable, and I'll turn on Aliens or something, okay?"

Peter nodded, and lifted his head from her shoulder before heading up the stairs into his room and changing out of his clothes and into a pair of sweats and a baggy shirt (at least, less baggy then it was when Ben gave it to him) depicting a faded drawing of Iron Man, and while it felt weird wearing a shirt with someone he ACTUALLY knew on it, it still made him feel closer to Ben, and that's all he needed.

He went back downstairs to see May kneeling beside the DVD player and putting a movie in, watching the disc go inside of the player before standing up, turning around and seeing Peter.

"So, popcorn or ice cream?" She asked as he settled on the couch, leaning on one of the throw pillows.

"Uh, ice cream." He smiled, and she smiled back, handing him the remote while she disappeared to the freezer, getting them both their ice cream.

He exited the previews, and watched as the pop up menu came on screen for E.T.

"Hey, May?!" He yelled. "Do we need subtitles?!"

"Yes!" May yelled back, coming back with their ice cream, putting the carton on the table as he opened the subtitles tab.

"And I'm guessing English for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing." Peter grinned, leading to a gentle smack on the back of the head before he clicked the option and turned on the movie.

And even before he could finish his ice cream, he was sleeping soundly against May's chest.


	6. Chapter 6

"Thank you so much for helping us, Danvers." Tony insisted, glancing behind her to see the medical wing bustling with activity due to the fact that Carol was able to open the Quantum Realm, saving everyone who was taken in The Decimation, and they were all being looked over.

While they still didn't have a few vital people to the team, mainly Vision and Gamora, they would get them back.

"Well, when Nick called me, I knew there must be a major problem, since he hasn't called me since I was trapped in the Quantum Realm myself. I'm just surprised Lang could get out without help. It took me years to get out. Maybe don't underestimate him."

Tony nodded, and watched as she turned around and walked into one of the rooms, most likely where Fury was, before he went down the hall, looking at all his fellow Avengers through the open doors, either resting or being checked out by doctors, but he was looking for one particular Avenger, one who definitely proved himself to deserve the title.

And near the end of the hall, he found a closed door, with a tag on it explaining who was in there and why you had to knock before going in, so he did the sensible thing and gently tapped the door with his knuckles three times.

At first, he didn't hear anything, and figured the kid was sleeping, but then he heard a quiet voice ask, almost in a whisper.

"Who is it?"

"It's Tony. Can I come in, Pete?"

The silence that came after that question was almost deafening, but when a quiet, almost non-existent "yes" hit his ears, he turned the knob and opened the door just enough so he could come in and closed it behind him before approaching the bed and the teen on it.

Peter had his legs pulled to his chest, his arms wrapped around his knees, his head against his knees and his back arched, his body shaking with whimpers and sniffles.

Tony gently put his hand on the teen's knee, watching as his head lifted up and he looked at him with teary eyes, and that's when the whimpers turned into sobs, and he was no longer in his curled up position, rather, he was sitting cross legged, his shoulders hunched and his head down.

His arm went around the teen's shoulders and he started running his fingers through his greasy, unwashed hair as he tried to comfort him as much as he knew how to do so.

Peter clung to Tony tightly as he just let out the pent up emotions from...however long he was in the Quantum Realm, and as much as he wanted to see May, or Ben, or even his parents, his mentor had the same warmth and comfort that he had felt every time something had happened before this moment and he couldn't contain himself.

And that's when it came back to Peter. The conversation he had with Ben almost ten years ago.

 _"I got you something." Peter looked up at his uncle, who revealed a pair of Iron Man patterned pajamas from a Wal-Mart bag, which made him very excited as he was asked. "Iron Man is really strong, right?"_

 _"Yeah! He can lift big stuff, and he can fly, and he's smart, like me!" Peter insisted, a grin on his face as he answered the question, leading to his hair being ruffled before being handed the pajamas._

 _"Now, you can put these on, and when you do, you'll be just like Iron Man."_

Peter didn't need pajamas, or a robe, or even a giant t-shirt that was completely faded at this point, to the point that the only part that survived the many washes was the extended hand that was glowing blue. He had the real person behind the mask. That was something you couldn't put a price on.


	7. Chapter 7

When Tony and Pepper were going out of town during the last week of Peter's summer break before his third year of college for their anniversary, he fully agreed to watch over the firecracker of a five year old that was Morgan Stark.

They were currently playing hide and seek after lunch, mainly cause Peter was trying to tire her out so she might sit down and watch a movie with him instead of keep him running around after her, due to the fact he was still sore from a attack he had stopped last night.

"Rawr!" Peter yelled happily as he peeked over a box that a four year old Morgan was crouched behind, making her squeal as she tried to run away from him, but Peter managed to very quickly grab her and tossing her in the air. "Found you!"

"My turn! My turn!" She squealed as he put her down, and she went to the wall, starting to count while Peter crouched behind the grand piano that she was fascinated by.

However, he was surprised that after ten, he heard light snoring, and he peaked out to see that she had fallen asleep with her head against the wall.

He quietly tip-toed out from behind the piano, and picked her up, letting her head rest on his very sore shoulder, before laying her on one of the throw pillows, and tucking her under her green blanket.

He kissed her forehead, and whispered good night, before turning out the main light, smiling as her arm poked out, revealing the long sleeve shirt with Iron Man printed all over it that he had worn fifteen years prior.


End file.
